About Margaret Trost

Margaret Trost’s favorite Creole saying is Piti piti na rive. It means “little by little we will arrive.” It’s what fueled her desire to start the What If? Foundation, dedicated to providing food and education to impoverished children in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

Since the founding of the What If? Foundation in 2000, Trost has raised over $1 million to support a food program for children (over 5,000 meals are served every week), tuition for the schooling of nearly 200 girls and boys, and an annual summer camp for 450 children in Port-au-Prince. Most of this money has come from individuals who have been moved by her story. Her passionate commitment and powerful first-hand accounts of the devastating conditions in Haiti have helped build the What If? Foundation into a genuine force for good in a country desperate for support. A gifted and inspirational speaker, she has many years of experience addressing groups of all sizes and is equally at ease on television and radio, and in workshops, lectures and conferences.

Margaret Trost grew up in Chicago, Illinois, with four siblings. Her father is a minister who put his faith into action. She remembers driving around the city with him distributing food to hungry families and stocking shelves at a neighborhood food pantry that he started and her mother directed. Her parents’ commitment to helping others in need and the sense of justice she experienced growing up was the foundation for her own philanthropic efforts.

Trost received a bachelor’s degree from the Pennsylvania State University, graduating Phi Beta Kappa. She received a Master’s degree in Journalism from the University of Wisconsin – Madison. She began her career in public television at WTTW – Chicago. One of the programs she produced – The 1990 Illinois Young Performers’ Competition – won a regional Emmy. In order to stay home full-time with her infant son, Trost left the television industry and began a home-based business as a sales representative. Her business success and compelling presentation skills led to invitations to travel as an inspirational speaker and sales trainer. Although she still runs her business, the majority of her time is devoted as a volunteer to leading and developing the What If? Foundation.

On That Day, Everybody Ate is her first book.

 Trost is married and lives with her husband and 16-year-old son in Berkeley, California.